


Left in the Rubble

by TwistedSamurai



Series: Experiment L0-435 [6]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: But he didn't escape without injury, Fear of Death, Gen, Lucas was working at Headquarters, Panic, Pre-Advent Children (Compilation of FFVII), Swearing, lots of swearing, mentions of dying, reno is protective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:21:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28658637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedSamurai/pseuds/TwistedSamurai
Summary: Rufus wasnt the only person at HQ when they fired. But he was the only one to make it down to the lower floors when the explosion happened. But lucky for Lucas, Reno and Rude went looking.
Series: Experiment L0-435 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920907





	Left in the Rubble

Lucas was the only one who had stayed back at the Shinra Building when everything happened. Reno and Rude had headed out into the field since Elena had run off cursing Cloud under his breath and swearing revenge. Although it wasn’t really surprising for any of them. She had been the one to be affected the hardest by Tseng’s death it seemed, so she had run off before Reno could tell her no.

Which left the three of them to try and help Rufus. Since he was good with computers, he had stayed on one of the lower floors to help with the systems where it was needed. In all honesty, Lucas had a feeling Rufus knew there was a chance of something going wrong and was trying to keep his Turks as safe as possible. Reno had even made a passing comment about it as well before he had left with Rude.

When the numbers had come up, Lucas noticed errors right away, even as they kept talking about firing it. Lucas reached for his phone- the fastest way he could contact Rufus to tell him not to fire- but he cursed as he realized he’d left it in the office. A rookie mistake, he chided himself. He moved away from the systems, heading out of the room and running for the elevators.

Seeing how full they were, he nearly growled. Even demanding one for official business, he would need to wait. Lucas paused for a few seconds, debating his options before running for the stairs. Thanks to Hojo’s testing he had speed. Which he could only hope would help him as he started to run, taking them as quickly as possible. He was about halfway there when the explosion happened, nearly sending him toppling down the flight he had just climbed up. Lucas barely had the time to jump towards the nearest door before he heard the clattering of debris around him and felt something hit his back, falling unconscious before he hit the ground.

\- - -

The first thing that Lucas saw, when he was able to open his eyes again, was the destroyed section of the stairs from where he had been standing moments before. If he hadn’t jumped out of the way, he noted, he probably would have been under the large chunks that were currently covering most of the landing he was on. He cursed weakly, coughing up a bit of dust as he tried not to move too much.

His leg was stuck under some of the rubble, he noted, and judging by the pain he could feel in it, there was probably a nasty mark from the concrete keeping him there. He reached up to brush some hair out of his eyes, wincing at the pain at just that small movement.

His PHS was out of reach, and snapped in half, he noted as he got a better look around him. Lucas knew calling for help would get him no where- and if he was hurt this far down, he was worried about how Rufus was on the top floor. First though, he needed to get out from under where he was. Then he could make his way to somewhere safer. The moment he tried to move his leg however, he heard the creaking of a bar above him and froze, looking up.

A large metal beam was nearly snapped in half, and Lucas swallowed nervously as he shifted a little. The small creak it caused had him freezing again. If he moved too much, it would shift the rocks and the bar would….

“Fuck me.” He whispered, laying still and taking a few deep breaths- someone would come looking to see if there were survivors, he told himself. There had to be someone.

But the longer time ticked on, the worse the pain got. Every creak of the building around him and the cold chill that came from the holes around him only seemed to worsen his fears until the Turk simply closed his eyes. Perhaps, after all he had done, he thought, this was what he deserved. He had helped dropped the plate, broken into so many files and records that were not meant for anyone else.

Lucas could feel tears welling up. There was no way he was going to give up this easily, he told himself, moving one hand to rub at his cheeks. No way he would lay down and take it. But the creak of the beam above him when he tried to shift a little told him otherwise.

He growled in frustration, before reaching for the broken PHS. It was useless, shattered as it was, but he still tried to grab for it until he heard voices on their way up the stairs. “C’mon, man. I don’t think he did either, but he’s still a stubborn asshole.” Lucas’ breath caught in his throat and he coughed a little. That voice sounded like Reno. And that would mean behind him was…

“Reno, I’m sure the boss is fine.” Rude’s voice was rough, and Lucas could help a small sob as he tried to speak and call out to them as they headed past him and up the stairs. Thanks to the rubble in the way, he wasn’t able to see them, and the dryness in his throat made it impossible for him to be loud enough for them to hear.

Their voices faded, and Lucas felt the panic rising in his chest. But he forced himself to push it away. They were going up the stairs, and they would have to come back down. He looked around, trying to find something he could hit. The waiting was the hardest part, and he cursed a little as he coughed to try and clear his throat a bit. The moment he heard movement he started to bang on the ground, making a small pattern and praying they would be able to hear it.

“Wait- Rude you hear that? That doesn’t sound like fallin stuff.” Reno said, his shoe making a small scuffling sound. Lucas held his breath as the movement stopped and he tapped the rock he had again on the ground three times. “See? There it is again. Hold on.”

Lucas stared at the rubble, watching as there was a small bit of movement and he coughed again. “Reno- Reno please.” He tried to call, and there was a moment of pure silence. “Lucas? Lucas was that you? Tap the rock again!” Reno demanded, and Lucas grabbed it, smacking it three times on the ground. He smiled a little as he heard a loud curse and scrambling. “I’m comin kid! Don’t move alright? Just keep tapping so I can find ya!”

“Reno- You might drop something on him be careful.” Rude spoke up softly and Lucas tapped the rock slowly, keeping the noises small until he could see Reno’s hand grab the edge of a rock and he looked up a little higher, meeting bright blue eyes.

“I found him!” Reno shouted, climbing carefully over and crouching beside him. “Fuck- Fuck alright are you okay?” He demanded, looking over Lucas and his hands flitted to and fro as he tried to assess everything at once. “Rude! Rude we need to get him out he’s stuck- fuck, shit alright. Stay still okay? We’ll get your foot out in no time.”

“Reno.” Rude put a hand on his shoulder. “Deep breath.” He added gently, crouching down as Lucas closed his eyes. He tightened his grip as Reno opened his mouth again. “Breathe. We’ll get him out okay? Lucas can you open your eyes? Look at me.” He urged as Reno nodded a little.

“Yeah… I’m just… Glad you’re here. Tired…” Lucas mumbled, and Rude frowned a little. “The beam though. Watch the beam over your head.” He tried to warn before Rude shushed him quiet and he let out a small wheezing breath.

“Okay. The beam overhead is hooked on the shit holding his foot. If it falls he’s gonna get hurt.” Reno said, frowning deeply. “I can get over to that section of the wall and kick it to you, so you can just push it out of the way.” He pointed, before standing. “Sound good?”

“Kicking it like that could knock you back out of the building we’re too high up.” Rude protested, but he paused as he saw the gleam in Reno’s eyes. “… Alright. Please be careful.” He sighed as Reno nodded before moving to climb onto the edge, shifting his footing.

“Ready? Count of three. One.” Reno turned himself to the side.

“Two.” Rude glanced back at Lucas before moving to catch the beam.

“Three!” Reno grunted as he kicked the beam out and Rude huffed a little as he caught it, carefully setting it aside as Reno jumped down beside him. “Okay. Now for Lucas. You can grab him and-”

“I’ll lift the stuff on his feet. You carry him.” Rude shook his head and Reno stared before nodding a little. He smiled a bit, letting out a small sigh.

“Thanks, partner.” He said softly before moving to crouch beside Lucas. “Hey kiddo. C’mon, open your eyes. You can’t nap on the job.” Lucas opened his eyes a little, groaning as Reno turned him a bit to get a grip on him. “Gotta get you outta this spot, alright? Don’t want any more of the building falling on top of ya.”

“Ready.” Rude grunted before lifting the piece of wall trapping him and Reno nodded, pulling him out. Lucas whined again as he was dragged, but he didn’t even make a snarky comment at all as Rude carefully lifted him onto Reno’s back.

“Reno… I didn’t think anyone would make a trip up here.” He mumbled, the words pressed against Reno’s neck as the red head started down the stairs. “I didn’t think I would even… Get out of there. The beam.”

“We took care of that, Lucas.” He assured. “You’re gonna be alright, got it? Chief’s gonna be happy when he hears you’re doing okay. So is Elena. They were both worried about you.” He explained gently, shifting his grip a little on Lucas’ leg. It wasn’t broken, but Reno could tell being stuck under that rubble he would need to stay off it for a few days to let it heal.

“You mean he’s alive?” Lucas whispered, and Reno nodded slightly. “Elena’s gonna be so happy… I’m sorry, I just, really tired.” His words were only getting quieter as they headed down the stairs.

“Just a little longer, Lucas. Just till we can get you to the medics.” Rude promised as Reno picked up the pace again, half jogging down the stairs and trying to keep Lucas from being jostled too much. The moment they hit the ground floor, Rude moved to find Tseng as Reno went to get some medics.

He set Lucas carefully down, as they started to look over all the cuts and scraps. Reno had thought that seeing him injured on the ground was hard, but look at him passed out on the stretcher and seeing just how much his wounds hurt was worse, in all honestly, and he gently moved some hair out of Lucas’ face before he heard his name being called.

“Reno. Was there any sign of him?” Tseng glanced at Lucas as Reno shook his head. “… We’ll send him right to Kalm.” He said gently, putting a hand on Reno’s shoulder. “But I need you and Rude to check the basement for him- check anywhere he could have possibly been in the building.” He added.

“Yeah… Sure thing boss.” Reno nodded. “But just let the medics know they hurt any part of my rookie, there’s gonna be hell to pay.” He raised his voice, ignoring the brief looks it earned him before heading off to where Rude was waiting for him, glancing back briefly to make sure Lucas was still sleeping. The kid looked like he needed it.


End file.
